Dinara Safina survived a fourth round scare and two match points to dispose of France's Alize Cornet 6-2 2-6 7-5 at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday, but only after a topsy-turvy display. Earlier in the day, Australian Open 2009 top seed Jelena Jankovic had fallen to Marion Bartoli – another French player – on the same court, and it looked like Safina’s encounter would go the same way.
Safina staged a remarkable comeback from 2-5 down in the third, defended two match points and - despite racking up an astonishing 21 unforced errors in the final set alone - managed to book her place in the Australian Open quarterfinals for the first time in her career.
But she was far from happy with her performance. "[I] come to the court and and completely like just shadow is playing. Like, you know, Dinara is there, but just not me," she said afterwards.
In the first set, the Russian third seed was relentless in her onslaught of the up-and-coming Frenchwoman, grinding her opponent down from the back of the court. A gutsy player, Safina always goes for her shots no matter the situation, and this was typified as she served for the opening set leading 5-1.
On her first set point, she blasted a backhand out. An over-hit forehand stopped her from claiming the second. She then served two consecutive double faults on the third deuce, and the opportunity to take the set had escaped her. While the Russian closed it out on the following game, her inconsistency appeared to bolster the confidence of her French challenger.
Cornet, who fell in straight sets to Safina a couple of weeks ago in the quarterfinals in Sydney, looked a new player in the second. She took control of points and capitalised on the Russian’s inconsistent performance. Very soon she had mirrored the first set score to level the match at a set apiece, and began the final set breaking the Russian seemingly at will to sprint ahead to a 5-2 lead. Safina then challenged what she thought was a winning shot on the right baseline. It was a wise move – her ball had clipped the line, and she was able to snatch a break and hold the following serve.
Fingernails were in short supply in the next game as Cornet held two match points. Ambitious play ensued; Safina attacked, and Cornet squandered her chances, hitting one ball out and the other into the net. That was when the match began to slip away. The Russian held in the following game and earned a match point on the Frenchwoman's serve. Superb play by Cornet saved one, but a netted backhand gave her Russian opponent a second chance, which Safin claimed on a drive forehand volley.
Safina admitted her concentration was an issue. "Because she was complaining about everything, I don't know what, her shoulder. I just started to look at her, what she's doing, instead of focusing myself and continuing being agressive. I just don't know. I'm so stupid looking at her instead of myself," she said.
After her great escape, Safina will play either Australia’s Jelena Dokic or Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova in the quarterfinals. She feels she needs to stop questioning herself if she is to progress. "The problem is that I'm doubting because I'm not playing the game I used to play. I'm just - I don't know. Either somebody just smacks me so hard in my head that something shakes finally and I put the cables together."
Quick facts
The nail-biting final set took 59 minutes
Safina had 52 unforced errors and eight double faults to Cornet’s 29 errors and four double faults
The Russian had 32 winners to Cornet’s 19
Safina won 18 of the 27 points where she came to the net; Cornet was 4-for-6 on net approaches
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